Tag Archives: workout

This past week, I had my regular full workout week without any issues getting there like I did the week before. In a way, I had more than a full week since I also had the Dri-Tri, but in a weird way, I don’t count that as a regular workout and more like a bonus. So I had my 4 regular workouts to help get me ready for the Dri-Tri and I ended the week thinking that I’m pretty ready for it (the recap of how the Dri-Tri went will be coming tomorrow).

On Monday, I was feeling pretty good but I also had some weird anxiety. I don’t know why I was feeling like that, but it made me pause a bit during the workout. This might have been good since I know going into a Dri-Tri, I don’t want to overdo it any day and this helped to keep things a bit easier on me.

For cardio, we had 4 blocks and they all followed the same pattern. We had a base to push pace, a push pace, a push to all-out, and an all-out. In the first block, there was no incline work. But for each block after that, the incline or resistance level went up. I did work with the new resistance levels I’ve been using and I tried to increase them the way we were supposed to. But for the last block, I wasn’t able to do the entire block at the highest incline so I dropped it back a bit and focused more on pedaling faster.

On the rower, we had one long block. We started with a 500-meter row followed by lunges and deadlifts with shoulder presses using the medicine ball. Then we did 2 rounds of a 250-meter row and the same exercises. And the end of the block was supposed to be 3 rounds of a 125-meter row and the same exercises, but I only got through one round of the 125-meter row. I usually don’t love long rows, but I was glad to have the 500-meter row since it allowed me to practice having a steady pace which I knew I would need for the Dri-Tri.

And on the floor, we also had one long block. We had step-ups (which I did as lunges), seated shoulder presses, goblet squats, reverse fly with weights, plank kicks, and double crunches. I really was hoping that I’d be able to work on using heavier weights by this point in the month, but I’m just not there yet. I tried heavier weights for many of the exercises and had to switch to lighter ones. I know that at least trying is better than doing nothing, but I wish I was seeing more results.

On Tuesday, I was dealing with some nausea related to my injectable medication. I don’t know why it was affecting me the way it did when it has been better for several weeks, but I was able to use the things I do whenever I have nausea to work through it. I had a few moments when I was worried I would need to step out of class, but I made it through without having to leave.

For each section of the room, we had 2 blocks that were about the same length. For cardio, we started with 1-minute intervals with push and base paces with a 30-second all-out. Then we had 2 more standalone 30-second all-outs with recoveries between each one. In the second block, it was a similar pattern but we had 30-second intervals and the recovery was longer after each all-out.

On the rower, the first block started with a 3-minute crew row. In a crew row, you were supposed to row synchronized with the people next to you. This isn’t easy to do, but we are given a specific stroke per minute we are supposed to be at, and having that can help get everyone synced up. After the crew row, we had squats and then a quick rest before being timed out with cardio for the last all-outs in the block. In the second block, we did a similar thing but we had a much shorter crew row at the beginning of the block. The second crew row was harder, but I think not everyone was staying at the strokes per minute we were supposed to use so we weren’t all going at the same rate.

And on the floor, the first block was focused more on lower body work. We had goblet deadlifts, lunges, and squats using the straps. I did use a heavier weight for the goblet deadlifts than I normally do, so that was a nice win for me. And in the second block, we did upper body work and we had high rows with weights, single-arm lateral raises, and Y-raises on the straps. I didn’t go heavier with weights for this block, but I didn’t go lighter with the weights which I wanted to do with the lateral raises.

By Wednesday, the nausea was almost gone. I still had a few moments when it kicked in, but it wasn’t as bad as Tuesday so I felt a lot better.

In the first cardio block, we had a 5-minute block to build. We had 90-second intervals with a base to push pace, a push pace, and a push to all-out pace. And we ended that block with a 30-second all-out. And in the second block, we had 30-second intervals with push paces and all-outs with standalone all-outs at the end. I do feel a lot stronger on the bike than I did before and I’m getting pretty used to the resistance levels that I’m using now. I don’t know when I will be increasing them again, but it’s nice to know that I’m feeling like this is normal and even considering pushing myself again.

On the rower, the first block matched cardio with the 5-minute build. I was hoping I wouldn’t need to take any breaks on the rower, but I ended up needing to take 2 really quick ones. I really want to keep working on my endurance on the rower because I know it’s possible to do these rows without stopping. I’m just not there yet but I’m hoping I will be soon. In the second row block, we had rounds of a 200-meter row with tricep extensions with a medicine ball between each row. That block went a lot better for me since those rows were all quick.

And on the floor, we had 1 long block. We had lateral lunges, hammer curls, and shoulder presses first as single movements and then we were supposed to do them combined as a single movement. I couldn’t do the lunges when the exercises were supposed to be combined, so I just did the hammer curls to shoulder presses. We also had core work after getting through each of those exercises.

Thursday was my last workout before the Dri-Tri. I knew that I needed to go a bit easy because I didn’t want to accidentally make myself sore before Saturday. So I just tried to not push myself too much and made sure that I was feeling ready to push myself over the weekend.

We had 3 blocks for cardio. Each block had 2 rounds of a push pace to base pace and ended with a push pace to an all-out. The base paces were always 30 seconds for each block. In the first block, the push paces were 30 seconds. In the second block, the push paces were 45 seconds. And in the last block, the push paces were 1 minute. And the all-outs decreased each block so they went from 1 minute to 30 seconds. This wasn’t anything too crazy and I just tried to make sure that I was not too stressed about how fast I was pedaling.

On the rower, each block had a different rowing focus. The first block was a 250-meter row with lunges between each row. This was more of a power row. The second row was doing stroke drills so we had 20 strokes on the rower and tried to get as far as we could in those strokes. This is more of a strength focus for rowing. And the last block was timed with cardio so it was an endurance row.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block had step-downs and squats. I did use weights for my step-downs, which I haven’t done that much but I was feeling ready to try to do that. And the second mini-block had chest presses and push-ups. And the second block was a core blast with leg lifts, hip raises, and crunches. I struggled a bit with the core blast because both leg lifts and hip raises are hard on my hips, but I tried my best with both and took my time so I didn’t get through too many rounds.

I don’t know if I ever really feel ready before a Dri-Tri, but I finished this past week of workouts feeling a lot more ready than I would have last month. I know my endurance isn’t where I want it to be, but I have seen improvements and that’s a big thing for having a successful Dri-Tri. And I knew going into it that I didn’t have to PR or do anything crazy. My goal for Dri-Tris is to just get through it and if I have a new record of some sort, that’s a bonus. And I’ll recap how everything turned out tomorrow!

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This past week of workouts was not exactly what I expected since I missed a workout when I couldn’t get out of my parking garage. That was frustrating, but there wasn’t much I could do about that and I didn’t have another time I could go to the gym. But it also wasn’t what I expected since my nausea was not affecting me when I thought it would but then also on another day, it was hitting me when I thought I’d be over it. But as always, I tried to do my best each morning that I was there.

On Monday, I was feeling a lot better so I was excited to keep trying to push myself. And this workout ended up being a really good one to test some things out and to feel even more ready for the Dri-Tri coming up.

For cardio, the first 3 blocks were all the same. We had a 3-minute push pace with a 45-second recovery after each one. I was using my new push pace resistance level and that did feel extra challenging. But I’m getting more and more used to it. The last block was a 2 1/2-minute push pace and a 30-second all-out which was a bit harder, but I still managed to use the new resistance levels that I have been using this month.

On the rower, for blocks 1 and 3 we had a 3-minute push row. I did better for distance on the second attempt than the first attempt, but I took fewer breaks the first time so I feel like they were somewhat equal. I’ve been focusing more on my rowing endurance to be ready for Dri-Tri, but I’m still nervous about how I’ll do. And in blocks 2 and 4, we did rounds of 150-meter rows with foot exchanges between each row.

And on the floor, in blocks 1 and 3 we had timed exercises. We did 1 minute of lunges, 1 minute of bicep curls to upper cuts, and 1 minute of squat jumps. And in blocks 2 and 4, we had plank punches and scissor kicks. The timed exercises were really hard, but I modified things when necessary and tried to keep those to a minimum.

Tuesday’s workout was the last Dri-Tri prep class. This one was to prepare us for the cardio section of the Dri-Tri, but that’s probably the section I’m least worried about. But it gave me another challenge to work with on the bike with the higher resistance levels. And I was dealing with nausea when I wasn’t expecting to, but I think it might have been due to my medication because it wasn’t the same type of nausea I had the week before.

For cardio, we had one long block. We started with a 4-minute push pace followed by a 1-minute base pace. The push paces got shorter each time and they all had a 1-minute base pace in between them. I usually don’t use my push pace resistance level on the bike for the Dri-Tri, but I do try to change it up throughout the time since biking for as long as I do can get a bit tiring. I’ll have to see how I feel when I do it, but I might try to keep the resistance levels a little higher than I have in the past since I have been proving to myself over and over again that I’m doing a lot better on the bike than I thought I would.

On the rower, the first block was rounds of a 500-meter row followed by lateral hops. And the second block was rounds of a 300-meter row followed by front and back hops. For both of the exercises on the rower, I had to modify them since I couldn’t do the hops. But I still did one as a lateral move and one as a front and back move. But I did better on the rower than I did on Monday, at least with the 500-meter row.

And on the floor, we had circuit work that had some exercises that changed and some that stayed the same each time. Each time we did the exercises, we always did a reverse crunch, sit-up, and back extension. But between each exercise, we did an exercise that changed each time. We had deadlifts, sumo squats to upright rows, and tricep extensions. I did better with the weighted work than I did with the core work, but I wasn’t able to use heavier weights than I normally do. I think my struggle with the core work was mainly about how I was feeling, so I wasn’t too down about that.

And my last workout of the week was on Thursday. I tried to not let my frustration about Wednesday get to me, but I know I was in a bit of a mood that morning because of what happened the day before.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block started with a 1-minute push pace followed by a 30-second base pace. We did 3 rounds of this pattern but the push pace got 15 seconds shorter and the base pace got 15 seconds longer each time. And in the second block, we had rounds of a 45-second all-out with increasing recoveries between each one. I think the rounds of the all-outs really helped me get the remaining frustration I had out of my body, which just continues to prove to me how much I need these workouts for my mental health.

On the rower, we started with a 1000-meter row. After the row, we had halos, tricep extensions, and presses with a medicine ball. Then we had 2 rounds doing 500-meter rows. I was working on the second 500-meter row when that block ended. I really focused on the split time on the rower for all these rows since that’s an important part of endurance rows. And I know what I have been able to do before and what I want to be able to do again. All of these long rows continue to give me more confidence about the Dri-Tri even if I know that I still am not exactly back to the strongest I’ve been.

And on the floor, we had one long block. We had skater lunges, pop jacks (which I did as squats), upright rows on the straps, single-arm snatches, woodchoppers, and plank shoulder taps. I tried to use heavier weights for the weighted work, but I had to go back to the weights I normally use when I realized they were too heavy. But at least I checked before I assumed.

Even though this workout week was a shorter one for me and not what I planned for, I really did a good job each day. I still am nervous about the Dri-Tri and I know I will feel that way until it’s done, but I’m feeling more prepared after this past week of workouts since I did a lot of endurance work that really got me ready for what is coming up.

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I knew going into this past week of workouts that it would likely be one of my bad weeks. I was hopeful that maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as it could be, but I never can predict how I’m going to feel and it can change from day to day. Being prepared is helpful because I can be a bit more mindful of what I do in my workouts to not aggravate the situation, but sometimes there’s nothing that I can do to help and I just have to get through a workout however I can. Fortunately, this past week wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I had some really tough moments, but it was somewhat tolerable.

Monday was probably the day that I was feeling the best. It’s sometimes hard to judge what is the best day because it can vary throughout the workout and the workout itself can affect how I feel. I was dealing with some pain, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be that morning.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. For each block, we had 3 rounds of a push pace to a base pace with a 1-minute all-out at the end. The base pace was always 30 seconds and the push pace ranged was 30 seconds in the first block, 45 seconds in the second block, and 1 minute in the last block. I was using the new resistance levels for my push pace and all-out, but I went into the workout thinking I would only do that for the first two blocks. But I decided to try it for the longer push paces and it wasn’t as bad as I expected so I just kept going. I am pedaling a lot slower, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

We also had 3 blocks on the rower. In the first block, we had rounds of a 250-meter row and then 20 curtsy lunges between each row. In the second block, we had stroke drills and did 20 strokes each time and regular lunges between each row. And in the last block, we were timed with cardio with the 1-minute push paces and 30-second base paces. I didn’t have any great achievements with my rowing, but I did it and that was good for me.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The longer block had 2 mini-blocks in it. The first mini-block had lunges and squats. After doing 3 rounds of those, we had chest presses and push-ups. I didn’t use weights that were any heavier than I normally do for those exercises, but as I have said, I can’t always make improvements in every single workout. But I did use my regular weights even though they felt a bit too heavy for me at times and I wanted to go lighter. And for the last block, we were timed with cardio and the rowers and had a core blast. We did mountain climbers for a minute and burpees for 30 seconds.

When I got to the studio on Tuesday morning, before we had class I signed up for the Dri-Tri. I’ve done 10 of these before and it’s always a challenge. But it’s a good challenge and I’ve never regretted doing it. But I have felt left out when I didn’t do it, even when it was because of something that wasn’t my fault. So I wanted to make sure I got a spot this time before they all filled up and I guess I’ll see how it goes later this month!

For the workout, we had 2 blocks in each section of the room. For both cardio blocks, we had intervals with a base pace at an incline and without an incline before having an all-out. Because I’ve been using higher resistance levels for my push pace and all-out, I thought about also trying to increase my levels for inclines too, but I think I’m going to wait until my base pace level is higher. But the levels I did use were above what I use for my all-out, so they were pretty high and I had to take several breaks when the nausea was really bad.

On the rower, the first block started with a 250-meter row followed by in-and-out steps and lunges. The row decreased by 50 meters each time we were on the rower. And in the second block, the row started at 50 meters and increased each time. And between each row, we had more in-and-out steps and squats to calf raises. I didn’t go as fast as I wanted to on the rower, but I was happy that I didn’t get so nauseous that I had to stop in the middle of a row.

And on the floor, the first block had split-leg deadlifts, chest flys, and seated torso rotations. And the second block had step-ups, concentration curls, and plank toe taps. I had to modify the second block a bit and did lunges for the step-ups because I used the bench for the other exercises and didn’t want to keep lowering and raising the bench and taking up time. And for the torso rotations, I used a heavier weight than I normally do and it wasn’t too much harder so that was a good win.

Wednesday’s workout was a signature workout. This time, it was Infinity. This is considered a Dri-Tri prep workout since the floor block for this workout is the same as what we do in the Dri-Tri. But since I was in pain and dealing with nausea, I knew the floor wouldn’t be easy for me. I would prefer to have to deal with pain and nausea on a Dri-Tri prep day instead of during the actual Dri-Tri, so that made me feel a bit better.

For cardio, we started with a 3-minute push pace followed by a 1-minute base pace. The push pace decreased by 30 seconds each time and the base pace stayed the same. And at the end of the block, we had a 1-minute all-out. And I was able to use my new push pace resistance level for each interval, even the longest one.

The rower is the real signature workout part of the Infinity workout. Every row was 100 meters. After the first row, we had 20 squat presses with a medicine ball. And after each row, the squat presses decreased by 2. If we got down to the round of 2, then after the next row we started to increase them by 2 each time. I had a heavier medicine ball than I normally would use, but that wasn’t intentional. It was the only one left so I took it as a challenge and decided to just try to use it. Using the heavier medicine ball did make things take a bit longer for me, so I knew that I wouldn’t have a PR for my rowing distance for Infinity. But I was ok with that since I knew with how I was feeling it was unlikely for me to get a PR even if I had my normal medicine ball.

And the floor was exactly like the Dri-Tri floor with hop-overs, bench tap squats, step-ups (which I did as lunges), push-ups, plank jacks, and burpees. I did have to take my time because a lot of these exercises were making me feel worse, but I still was able to get 2 rounds done before the block was over which was a good sign for how I might do on my Dri-Tri later in the month.

By Thursday, I was happy that I wasn’t having as bad of a week as I thought it might be, and I had a feeling that I could make it through that workout without too many issues. I did have a decent amount of pain and nausea, but I took some medications before the workout and they did kick in during class so that helped quite a bit.

The first cardio block had a 30-second push pace, 1-minute base pace, 30-second push pace, 90-second base pace, 30-second push pace, and 30-second all-out. And the second block did the same thing as the first block but added 2 more all-outs at the end. I continued to use the new resistance levels for my push pace and all-out but kept my base pace the same. I don’t know if I’ll be increasing the level I use soon, but I don’t have to rush into doing it either.

On the rower, the first block started with a 10 stroke drill with squat bicep curls using a medicine ball. We then had a 15 stroke drill and 20 stroke drill with the same exercise after each row. And in the second block, we did the same except we did each stroke drill twice before moving on to the next one. I usually am really good at stroke drills, but I struggled a bit to go as slowly as I know I should go. But I was keeping it under the stroke count that we needed to be under.

And on the floor, the first block was a mini-band block. We had lunges with front raises, walkouts, and plank reaches. I did some modifications for all these exercises. I did the lunges with front raises normally the first time, but after that, I just did the front raises alone since I struggled with my balance. For the walkouts, I used the bench so I wasn’t doing as many steps with my hands. And for the plank reaches, again I used the bench for my hands. The second block was all about cluster sets where we did an exercise for 6-10 reps, rested for about 10 seconds, and then did the same exercise again until failure. We had reverse grip low rows, hip bridges, and Arnold presses. I did go heavier with my hip bridges than I have done recently, but it’s still a bit lower than I was using when I was my strongest. For the other exercises, I didn’t go heavier than normal but tried to get more reps in the second attempt than I normally would do since that would be an extra challenge.

Considering this was a bad week for me with pain and nausea, it wasn’t that bad of a week for my workouts. I think part of that was being prepared for this week and part of it was because it wasn’t as bad as it can be. I also have a new focus for my workouts with trying to keep improving a lot, and I think my stubbornness helped me push through other things that might have affected my workouts. I know that this week might still be a bit of a tough one, but hopefully I’ll continue to push through and have more things I can feel good about by the end of the week.

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Before this past week of workouts, I was worried that it might be a bad week. I knew my pain and nausea might kick in during the week, but I was also hopeful that it wouldn’t be as bad as I know it can be. It’s not exactly something I can predict, I just know when the likely time is for it to happen.

Monday was a tough day for me for nausea, but it was somewhat manageable. I just tried to do what I always do with taking breaks when I needed them to make sure I let the nausea pass.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block was rounds of a push pace or a base pace for 1 minute each with a 30-second all-out at the end. The second block was rounds of a 30-second push pace with an incline followed by a 90-second base pace without an incline and another 30-second all-out at the end. The incline/resistance level wasn’t too high, but I still tried to keep it above what I normally use for my all-out to make it a bit more challenging.

On the rower, each block was a row and a medicine ball exercise. The first block was a 200-meter row and a good morning with the medicine ball. And the second block was a 30-second row and calf raises with a raised medicine ball. The calf raises were supposed to be single-leg and sometimes I do try to do those, but I knew my balance was not up for it so I did them as regular calf raises instead.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks that each had 3 exercises. We had single-arm high rows, shoulder presses to stands, and squats in the first block. And we had single-arm chest presses, deadlifts, and pullovers in the second block. I did split up the shoulder presses to stands into 2 movements, but other than that I was able to do a pretty good job with all the floor work and used some good weights.

I was expecting to still have nausea on Tuesday, but I was doing a lot better so that was a nice surprise for me. I know how much I have to take advantage of the days I feel good when I’m expecting not to be ok, so I tried my best not to go too easy on myself.

For cardio, we had one long block. We started with a 30-second push pace and a 30-second base pace. We continued the pattern of the push and base pace matching, but each time they were increased by 15 seconds. We ended with a 75-second push pace and a 75-second base pace before having a 30-second all-out to end the block. I didn’t change up my resistance levels from what I normally use, but I did pay more attention to how fast I was pedaling so I could try to increase it just a little bit more than what I usually do.

On the rower, for the first 3 minutes, we matched cardio with the push and base paces. Then we had stroke drills with medicine ball work for the rest of the block. We had 20 strokes on the rower and then squats with front presses and lunges. The first 3 minutes were tough since my endurance on the rower isn’t my strong spot, but I did ok. And for the stroke drills, I really made sure I took my time since that’s the best way to maximize distance for those.

And on the floor, it was another long block but there were 2 mini-blocks in it. The first mini-block was all mini-band work. We had torso rotations, scissor kick crunches, and toe taps. I did change up the order so that I did all the toe taps at one time since I was a bit worried about being face down during exercises, but it was ok. And the second mini-block had skier swings, lunges, single-arm snatches, and standing wood choppers. I didn’t go too heavy with these weights, but I never do so it was pretty much my normal ability.

Wednesday was also a pretty ok day for me. I was surprised I didn’t have nausea in the morning since I really expected it after Monday, but I wasn’t going to complain too much. Especially since this was right after I decided my monthly challenge was going to be all about making improvements in my workouts.

For cardio and the rower, we had an interesting switch format. Every block was 4 minutes long and if you were on cardio, you did the first and last block on cardio and the middle block on the rower. And if you were on the rower, the first and last blocks were on the rower and the middle block was on cardio. So we were switching every 4 minutes. Every block on cardio was 3 rounds of a 1-minute all-out with a 30-second recovery in between. And every block on the rower was a 3-minute push pace with a 1-minute all-out. I did increase my all-out resistance level for cardio and it was a lot harder than my usual level, but also a good challenge. And on the rower, I tried to not take breaks but I did need to take a few.

And on the floor, we had a lot of Bosu work but I had to modify some of it to make it work for me. We had lunges (which I did off of the Bosu), kneeling tricep extensions, crunches, kneeling single-arm bicep curls, push-ups (which were also off of the Bosu), single-arm chest presses, and hip bridges. It was a lot of work, but also another good challenge. I wanted to try heavier weights, but for most of the weights I use, going heavier is a 5lb difference which is a bit more than I’m ready for. But I did try each weighted exercise with the heavier weight before just using the weights I normally do just in case I was able to do it.

And my surprise continued on Thursday when again I didn’t have nausea. I really felt lucky that I only had one day of nausea, but I also know that I might have a lot more this week. But I enjoyed having a much better week than I planned.

For cardio, we had 4 blocks. Each block started between our base and push pace and then went to a push pace, push to an all-out pace, and ended with an all-out pace. In the first block, we didn’t have any inclines, and in each block after that, we increased the inclines but the times for each interval decreased. I did try to use higher resistance levels than normal. So for my first base to push pace, I used my normal push pace. And that meant my all-out level was 1 higher than I normally use when we had no incline work. And each block everything went 1 level higher which was a big challenge by the last block.

On the rower, we started with a 500-meter row. Then we had lunges and deadlifts with shoulder presses using a medicine ball. We continued the pattern of the row and exercises and did 2 rounds of a 250-meter row next. We were supposed to do 3 rounds of a 125-meter row at the end, but I only made it through 2 rounds before we were done on the rower.

And on the floor, we had 1 long block. We had step-ups to knee raises, shoulder presses, step-downs, reverse fly with weights, bear planks, and double crunches. I did a few modifications on the floor such as lowering the bench so I could do the step-ups and step-downs, but I was able to do them with the lower bench. I also skipped the bear planks because I was struggling a lot with my balance once I got to those. But I did use a heavier weight than normal for my double crunches which I was very happy with.

I’m so glad that this past week went a lot better than I thought it would. I was able to have some really good workouts and start working on my monthly challenge toward the end of the week. This week might be a tough one for me or I might be surprised again. But either way, I’m going to keep going and hopefully I can find more ways I can still work on improving things.

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Back To My Regular Schedule (I’m Glad My Bad Week Didn’t Start Until This Week) I’m So Glad I Pushed Hard This Past Week (or Having A Good Day In A Bad Week) A Mixed Workout Week (or Preparing To Have A Bad Week Again) A Short Workout Week (or I Guess I’m Glad This Happened On A Bad Week) Getting Through Another Bad Week (or Just Trying My Best) This Is The Workout Week I Expected (or I Knew It Would Be A Bad Week)

After having to take the week before off of working out, I knew going back this past week wouldn’t be a week I could go all out. Whenever I’ve had to take time off, I’ve noticed that it takes a week or two to get back to my routine and not feel too weak. I was still recovering from the cold I had, which added to my weakness, so I was just very cautious. But I also was so happy to be back to working out because I missed it and craved the feeling I get from a good workout.

I was a bit nervous on Monday because I didn’t know how I’d do back in class. I still had some swelling in my throat, so I wasn’t always fully catching my breath. So I knew that I had to be very aware of how I was feeling and take breaks when I needed to even if I wanted to keep going.

For cardio, we had one long block. We started with a 30-second push pace and a 30-second base pace. We continued the pattern of the push and base pace matching, but each time they were increased by 15 seconds. We ended with a 75-second push pace and a 75-second base pace before having a 30-second all-out to end the block. I did ok at the beginning of the block, but toward the end, I was taking a lot more breaks to catch my breath and make sure I was still doing ok. The swelling in my throat also made it tough to drink water, so that was another reason I needed to keep taking breaks.

On the rower, for the first 3 minutes, we matched cardio with the push and base paces. Then we had stroke drills with medicine ball work for the rest of the block. We had 20 strokes on the rower and then squats with front presses and lunges. I didn’t use the medicine ball for the lunges, which I never do, but I did the squats with it and that didn’t feel too hard so I was happy that I seemed to be easing into workouts better than expected for the rower.

And on the floor, it was another long single block but there were 2 mini-blocks in it. The first mini-block was all mini-band work. We had torso rotations, scissor kick crunches, and toe taps. I did take a lot of rest during this, but at least I was seated for this first mini-block so it was easy to rest. The second mini-block was harder, but somehow I think I did better with it. We had skier swings, lunges, single-arm snatches, and standing wood choppers. I was going a lot lighter with the weights than normal, but I was very happy with how I did.

I was doing better on Tuesday, but I still was not fully recovered from my cold. But I was ready to keep going and see what I could get done in the workout. And it was a tough day, even if I was feeling 100%.

For cardio and the rower, we had the same thing on each. We had 3 blocks that were all timed distance challenges. We had a 3-minute challenge, a 6.5-minute challenge, and another 3-minute challenge. It was a lot to do, especially on the rower. But I knew that I could just do as much as I could and take a break when I needed to do so. I’m glad that I was breathing a little easier and I didn’t feel as much pain when drinking water because that helped a lot.

The floor work was a bit crazy and I had to do a bunch of modifications to make it work, but I did it. We started with 3 rounds of doing walkouts to plank pops for 30 seconds and butt kicks for 30 seconds. I did the walkouts but I didn’t do the plank work and I tried to do the butt kicks without jumping and found a way to make it work. The second block had 20 reps for each exercise. We had squat jacks, squats, lunges, mountain climbers, in-and-out hops, speed skaters, and burpees. I modified when I could, but I mainly just went slowly with each exercise and didn’t worry about rushing through them. And for the last block, we had 3 rounds of 30 seconds of squat jacks to knees to elbows and 30 seconds of squat jumps. Again, I took out any jumping elements and just went slowly with each exercise. I think if I was feeling great I still would have been exhausted after this class so I didn’t feel bad about how tired I was when I left.

I finally felt pretty normal by Wednesday, but I knew I still needed to keep easing myself back into things.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block was rounds of a push pace or a base pace for 1 minute each with a 30-second all-out at the end. The second block was rounds of a 30-second push pace with an incline followed by a 90-second base pace without an incline and another 30-second all-out at the end. The incline/higher resistance work was something I hadn’t done earlier in the week so it was another challenge for me to ease into. But I just kept things a bit lighter than normal and they were only 30 seconds each so that helped.

On the rower, the first block had rounds of a 200-meter row followed by a good morning using the medicine ball. Normally, a 200-meter row is a good distance for me to do, but I was getting tired quickly on the rower so I couldn’t quite push myself the way I wanted to. It’s hard when my mind is telling you one thing and my body is saying something else. But I knew I had to listen to my body. The second block had rounds of a 30-second all-out row with calf raises after each row, so that block went a little better for me and I was able to get very close to what I can normally do in a 30-second row.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks that each had 3 exercises. We had single-arm high rows, shoulder presses to stands, and squats in the first block. And we had single-arm chest presses, deadlifts, and pullovers in the second block. I used a bunch of different weights for the floor so some of the exercises were with weights I normally use and some were with slightly lighter weights.

I’m glad I was feeling like myself for the end of the week because it allowed me to really try hard for Thursday’s workout. I did notice a few times where I needed to rest more than normal, but I think that was much more about a few lasting symptoms of my cold than me needing to work back up to my normal in my workouts.

For cardio, we started with a 90-second push pace, a 1-minute base pace, and a 30-second all-out. After a recovery, we did the push and all-out again without the base pace. We had that same pattern again but with a 1-minute push pace. And we ended cardio with an extra 30-second all-out at the very end of the block.

On the rower, the first block was focused on stroke drills. We did 15 strokes on the rower and then halos with a medicine ball. I usually do pretty well on stroke drills, and I was very happy with the distance I was getting each time. The second block had us doing 150-meter rows as quickly as possible and then rainbows with a medicine ball between each row. I wasn’t as good at the speed rows, but I know I never really am.

And on the floor, we had 1 block with 3 mini-blocks in it. And for each mini-block, we were supposed to do the exercises 3 times before moving on to the next one. We had lateral lunges and regular lunges, balance bicep curls and single-arm rows on the straps, and crunch hold over under and plank work. I did a few modifications such as doing bird dogs instead of the plank work, but I really tried my best to do as much as I could even if it was pushing me a bit more than I normally would. And I was very proud at the end of the workout with how I did.

Overall, this past week of workouts was a lot better than I expected after returning from being sick. I did have to ease myself into things a bit and I know that if I hadn’t been sick I could have done more, but this was a much easier easing in than I thought it would be and I think that shows how far I’ve come recently in my workouts. I can recover from time off faster and that’s a big deal! I never like taking time off, but how this past week went made me feel a bit better about possibly having to do that in the future. I know I can come back after being gone, and this past week really proved it to me.

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